These mass arrests took place last Friday when a mob of religious extremists gathered outside the place of worship, chanting inflammatory slogans.

In response to fears of potential violence, members of the Ahmadi community reached out to the police emergency line for assistance. However, instead of dispersing the threatening crowd, law enforcement officials arrested 22 Ahmadis, transported them to the City Police Station in Daska.

Following the arrests, extremists gathered outside the police station, demanding that criminal charges be filed against the detainees. Yielding to the pressure from these groups, authorities subsequently registered formal charges against the arrested Ahmadi citizens.

In a similar incident last week, 23 Ahmadis had criminal charges registered against them in the Sargodha district for gathering at a community space to offer Friday prayers.

Amir Mahmood, a spokesperson for the Ahmadi community in Pakistan, said the situation for the community has become “grave” and that they are being stopped from praying even within the boundaries of four walls.

Pakistan’s law bars Ahmadis from calling themselves Muslims, and extremist groups have relied on the legislation to justify attacks targeting the community. They vandalize Ahmadi worship places arguing that they look like mosques. Ahmadi tombstones carrying Islamic terms or titles are also often a target.

A judgement of the Supreme Court authored by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah in 2022 had asked the authorities not to stop Ahmadi citizens from practicing their faith within the four walls of their homes and worship places. The SC had held that the act of depriving non-Muslims of holding their religious beliefs was “against the grain of our democratic Constitution”.

“To deprive a non-Muslim (minority) of our country from holding his religious beliefs, to obstruct him from professing and practicing his religion within the four walls of his place of worship is against the grain of our democratic Constitution and repugnant to the spirit and character of our Islamic Republic,” stated a nine-page verdict, authored by SC judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah in 2022.

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According to a statement released by a spokesperson for Pakistan’s Ahmadi community, the worship place and Ahmadi houses were attacked in the presence of the police on Friday. The police have reportedly also filed baseless cases against Ahmadis who were protecting the worship place.

A few days ago, extremist elements had requested the police to demolish the minaret of the worship place. When the police were called in for a complaint, Ahmadis stated that the worship place was constructed in 1950. A Lahore High Court order issued in April of this year stated that Ahmadi worship places built before 1984 could not be demolished or altered. However, extremist groups continue to attack Ahmadi worship place despite the order.

Extremist elements had called for a protest on Friday and in the presence of the police, around 150 of them attacked the worship place and Ahmadi houses, per the spokesperson. They tried to break the minaret with hammers and entering the worship place and nearby Ahmadi homes. During this attack, the doors of the worship place and homes, and three motorcycles were damaged. The extremists reportedly also threw a large number of stones at the Ahmadi worship place and homes.

Instead of acting against the attackers, the police took action against Ahmadis, registering a case against 11 named and 20 unidentified Ahmadis who were protecting the worship place.

The spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan, Amir Mahmood, condemned the attacks by extremist elements on the Ahmadi worship place and homes. He stated that the police illegally demolished the minaret of the Ahmadi worship place despite clear orders from the Lahore High Court, which the police had no authority to do. Instead, they filed a baseless case against innocent Ahmadis. He called for action against the police officials for the illegal demolition of the minaret of the Ahmadi worship place and demanded that the extremists who attack Ahmadi homes and worship places be brought to justice.

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In the statement, the spokesperson further noted that in most cases, it’s the police that carry out the desecration of Ahmadi graves. There has been a rise in incidents of vandalisation of Ahmadi worship places and graves in the past few months.

On Sept. 23, the Punjab police desecrated more than 70 tombstones of Ahmadis in Daska, Sialkot, in the wee hours.

On Sept. 26, Ahmadi worship places in Sheikhupura and Okara were vandalised in two separate attacks. Moreover, an Ahmadi superintendent of police (SP) faced threats from religious quarters in Mandi Bahauddin during that week. These incidents targeting the community continue to take place despite the Lahore High Court’s recent verdict that barred the police from demolishing Ahmadi worship places that were built before the passage of Ordinance XX in 1984. The ordinance, promulgated by military dictator Zia ul Haq, had made it a criminal offence for Ahmadis to use Islamic terms and titles or “pose as Muslims”. Religious extremists who demolish Ahmadi worship places cite this law to justify their actions, and the authorities often side with the attackers.

On August 21, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar mentioned Ahmadis along with other minorities during his speech condemning the Jaranwala incident where churches and Christian homes were burnt by a mob over blasphemy allegations. But since that speech, several Ahmadi worship places have been desecrated in Pakistan.

This year alone, there were 18 attacks on Ahmadi places of worship in the country. According to the community, the police either take part in the desecration or give a free hand to extremist individuals to attack the worship places.

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In a statement, a spokesperson for the Ahmadi community said that the authorities had once again failed to provide protection to the worship places of Ahmadis. “The Ahmadiyya persecution has reached unprecedented heights,” the statement added.

Earlier, on Tuesday, police removed sacred wordings from two other Ahmadi places of worship in the Shadiwal and Chooknawali districts of Gujrat. A day later, the police officials realised that removing sacred wording was not enough, and demolished the sacred wording using hammers, later taking the debris with them.

The Ahmadi community spokesperson said that instead of protecting the worship places, the police these days pressure Ahmadis to desecrate their worship places themselves and upon the community’s refusal, the cops carry out the desecration on their own.

“The acts carried out by the police are nothing but the fulfilment of the vain desires of extremists elements,” the spokesperson said.

On August 21, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar mentioned Ahmadis along with other minorities during his speech condemning the Jaranwala incident where churches and Christian homes were burnt by a mob over blasphemy allegations. But since that speech, three Ahmadi worship places have been desecrated in Pakistan.

This year alone, there were 18 attacks on Ahmadi places of worship in the country. According to the community, the police either take part in the desecration or give a free hand to extremist individuals to attack the worship places.

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While the factors that contributed to this lack of progress in scientific research in Pakistan are multifold, religious bigotry has been one of the main hurdles. Pakistan’s first Nobel laureate Dr. Abdus Salman, who was once leading the country’s efforts to develop its space and nuclear programmes and had founded Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Corporation (SUPARCO), was later shunned due to his Ahmadi faith.

In 1961, Dr Abdus Salam collaborated with late Pakistan Air Force (PAF) commodore WJM Turowicz to set up SUPARCO. When SUPARCO was established, its founders and scientists who were part of it worked tirelessly to develop scientific research in Pakistan. Pakistani scientists were connected with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It was expected that within a decade or two, Pakistan would be able to send its own satellites into space. But this dream soon came crashing down.

Dr Abdus Salam’s collaborations with NASA eventually stopped after he was snubbed with the Ahmadi community being declared non-Muslim through an amendment to the Constitution in 1974. Salam then left Pakistan for England, orphaning the country’s space programmes and quitting his efforts of developing scientific research in Pakistan. Thereafter, the government of Pakistan lost interest in improving Pakistan’s space programme with the help of international researchers and scientists.

Due to his Ahmadi faith, Dr Abdus Salam was never duly acknowledged and celebrated for his achievements despite being the country’s first Nobel prize winner. Salam passed away in 1996 in Oxford, United Kingdom, and was laid to rest in his hometown, the Ahmadi majority city of Rabwah. The epitaph on his tomb initially said “First Muslim Nobel Laureate”, but the then government of Pakistan removed the word “Muslim” and left only his name on the headstone.

The way Salam was shunned for his religious identity in spite of his dream to take Pakistan’s space programme to new heights reflects how bigotry and extremism has always costed Pakistan dearly.

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Ahead of Eid, police authorities in Punjab had vowed strict action against Ahmadi citizens found offering the ritual sacrifice, amid threats to the marginalised community by extremist groups. The first day of Eid al Azha was marked on June 29 in Pakistan.

A spokesperson for the Ahmadi community told Dissent Today that extremist individuals kept peeking inside houses of Ahmadi residents in Faisalabad to see if they were slaughtering sacrificial animals. Sacrificial goats and cows were seized by the police in raids conducted on complaints of extremist individuals.

A video doing the rounds on social media, purportedly from Faisalabad, shows two men introducing themselves as workers of the TLP, and announcing that they called the police when they found out sacrificial goats were being kept inside an Ahmadi house in their neighbourhood. “We have informed the police, and a contingent has arrived,” they said, adding that if the police did not act against the Ahmadi residents, they would call workers of the TLP.

On the complaint of Tehreek Labeek activist, Punjab Police raided the house of Ahmadiyya community in faislabad and seized Eid animals.
Ahmadis are not allowed to perform Qurbani even in their homes, pic.twitter.com/Z3eYtnAtlb

— adnan luqman (@adnan_luqman) June 29, 2023

The video ends with policemen coming out of the house with two goats, and the complainants announcing that two goats have been “recovered”.

The harassment of the Ahmadi community intensifies around Eid al Azha every year, but this crackdown appears to be severer this year. TLP’s leaders and supporters on social media had threatened to lodge cases against the community’s members if they slaughtered sacrificial animals on Eid. In a viral video released ahead of Eid, a leader of the group could be seen warning that if the ritual is performed inside the house, the women of the family would have cases registered against them.

These warnings did not just come from extremist quarters, but lawyers in Punjab had also urged the authorities to stop the community from marking Eid al Azha. Lahore High Court Bar Association and Islamabad Bar Association wrote separate letters to the secretary Home Department and Inspector General Police respectively, wherein the lawyer bodies urged “preemptive and preventive” action to stop the Ahmadi community from performing the ritual sacrifice on Eid al Azha. The letters separately issued by both associations were dated 22nd and 24th June.

Pakistan’s Constitution declares Ahmadis “non-Muslims”, and they are prohibited from “posing as Muslims”. Ahmadis seen posing as Muslims or using Muslim symbols or titles can be jailed for three years. These laws are often used as a tool to harass the community.

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On April 27, Karachi’s City Court Police Station registered a second First Information Report (FIR) against the 76-year-old lawyer under the Anti-Ahmadiyya Sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The complaint was filed by a fellow lawyer.

During today’s hearing the court granted bail to the Ahmadi man while also ordering the Sindh Inspector General to review the service record of the City Court Police Station SHO “to determine whether he is performing his duty of maintaining religious peace and harmony in his area in a neutral, professional, sensitive and capable manner”.

The judge also directed the police authorities to not register another FIR on the same charges against the Ahmadi man.

Today’s hearing was held amid strict security measures as the lawyer representing the Ahmadi man was assaulted by his fellow lawyers inside a court during the last hearing.

Earlier, an Ahmadi lawyer who defends members of the community accused of blasphemy, was attacked with a cleaver by a man associated with Madrasa Khatm-e-Nabuwat, in his chamber in district Chiniot.

The attacker had previously attacked another Ahmadi man and is known to be violent towards the community.

According to a FIR, the attacker identified as Zubair Anwar attacked lawyer Amir Munir in his chamber with a cleaver. Before attacking, Zubair had referred to the cases filed against the Ahmadi community members the lawyer was defending.

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On April 27, Karachi police had arrested the Ahmadi lawyer for using ‘Syed’ as a prefix in his name, after registering a second First Information Report (FIR) against him over the same charges.

The FIR had stated that the Ahmadi lawyer had used ‘Syed’ in his name, therefore action should be taken against him. The case was registered under Sections 298-B and C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC)

Lawyer Abdul Moiz Jaffery tweeted that the counsels representing the Ahmadi lawyer were intimidated while they had appeared for the bail application of their client. He added that of the two lawyers representing the Ahmadi man, one got injured when a fellow lawyer attacked him.

Yesterday @SalAhmedPK & @sjmirza argued the bail of a 76 yr old Ahmedi lawyer, who has twice in the past yr been accused of blasphemy by fellow lawyers.

His alleged crime is that his father named him ‘syed ahmed’ in 1948.

A campaign to bully the court & counsels was ongoing..

— Abdul Moiz Jaferii (@Jaferii) May 16, 2023

The judge hearing the case reprimanded the lawyers who attacked the counsels representing the Ahmadi man for their “aggressive behaviour”, saying their behaviour was “a slap on and a disgrace to the prestigious profession of law”. The judge has also issued directives to hold the next hearing amid security measures.

According to the Order Sheet of the case, the judge said that he had to adjourn the hearing due to “grave apprehension of a law and order situation” within the court’s premises.

One of the lawyers defending the Ahmadi man got injured when a lawyer, identified as Akbar Jatoi, attacked him, the judge added.

The judge also urged the Sindh Bar Council, Sindh High Court Bar Association, Karachi Bar Association, and Malir Bar Association to take “immediate action to address the unacceptable behaviour of some of its members”.

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According to a representative of the Ahmadi community, a group of 150 people vandalised the worship place, razing its minarets. He added the place of worship was also set on fire.

A video shared by the Ahmadi community press section on Twitter shows a number of men atop the building, destroying minarets with hammers.

Continuous attacks on Ahmadiyya worship places are a gross violation of human rights. Today attack on the Ahmadiyya place of worschip in Dholan Abad, Mirpur Khas by a mob of 150 Plus extremist unacceptable.@sindhpolicedmc8 @MuradAliShahPPP @BBhuttoZardari @AAliZardari pic.twitter.com/784zRUqIvb

— PressSectionSAA (@PressSectionSAA) May 4, 2023

The community representative also said the police are not registering a First Information Report (FIR) of the incident.

Sharing the details of the incidents involving Ahmadi places of worship, the community representative said that their 5 worship places have been attacked in Sindh alone.

On January 18th, a mob attacked an Ahmadi place of worship in Karachi;  on February 2nd, the Ahmadiyya Hall in Saddar, Karachi was vandalized; on February 3rd, a mob destroyed the minarets of the Ahmadiyya Baitul Zikr in Goth Chaudhry Javed Ahmed Mirpurkhas, and set it on fire and on February 3rd, an Ahmadi worship place in Noor Nagar, Umerkot was also set on fire. On February 4th, a mob opened fire on the Ahmadiyya worship place in Satellite Town, Mirpurkhas, while people were still inside.

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The decision was taken in a meeting of KP Bar Council’s executive committee. The meeting was presided over by the bar council’s chairman Syed Mubashir Shah.

During the meeting, it was decided that the new lawyers would declare they do not belong to any “Qadiani or Lahori group (who attribute themselves to Ahmadi or any other group),” reported Aaj English.

The council issued a sample declaration certificate after the meeting.

According to the certificate, the relevant lawyer would declare that he/she solemnly swear that he/she believes in the absolute and complete finality of the Prophethood of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH). The lawyer will also declare that he/she is not follower of anyone, who claims to be a prophet in any sense of words or of any description whatsoever after Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Declared non-Muslims in Pakistan, the Ahmadis face social and legal discrimination with growing incidents of attacks on their worship places, as well as desecration of their graves reported this year.

Last week, Karachi police had arrested an Ahmadi lawyer for using ‘Syed’ as a prefix in his name, after registering a second First Information Report (FIR) against him over the same charges.

Earlier, an Ahmadi lawyer who defends members of the community accused of blasphemy, was attacked with a cleaver by a man associated with Madrasa Khatm-e-Nabuwat, in his chamber in district Chiniot.

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